what Python can do for Astronomy

Greenfield, Perry

Python continues to see increased use in astronomy, both by institutions developing software for new instruments, telescopes and missions, and by astronomers for use with analyzing their data. I will describe the advances in Python-based tools for astronomy in the past few years and the current effort to bring those tools together into a common repository. What are the most serious challenges facing the use of Python in astronomy and how should these be addressed? Finally, I'll discuss the non-technical contributions that Python can bring to astronomy and illustrate with examples and suggestions.